# INTRODUCTION TO BEAMLINES

BACK

In a Synchrotron Light Source, the beamlines are the experimental stations where materials are analyzed. They are like complex microscopes that focus the synchrotron radiation so that it illuminates the samples of the materials under study and allow the observation of their microscopic properties.

The quality of analysis in the beamlines is determined by the brightness of the Synchrotron Light Source, i.e. the number of photons emitted by the source in a determined spectral range of energy, per unit of time, per unit size and angular divergence of the source.

A higher brightness is not only capable to improve quantitatively the experiments, with the reduction in data acquisition time, with increased accuracy of measurement results or the increase in the number of samples that can be analyzed in the same space of time.

A higher brightness opens up completely new research opportunities, allowing the conducting of experiments in techniques that are impossible to be implemented in low-brightness synchrotrons.

# NEW PERSPECTIVES

The chemical and crystallographic mapping of materials with nanometer resolution, for example, is made with light focused in nanometric regions of the samples with Synchrotron Radiation. The intensity of the illumination, which defines the quality of the mapping, is proportional to the illuminated area and the brightness of the source. Therefore, to reduce the illuminated area and see finer details, maintaining the image quality, high brightness is required.

Similarly, to make three-dimensional images of materials with better contrast and temporal resolution, some beamlines use only a part of the beam which is transversely coherent (i.e., similar to a laser). This fraction is proportional to the brightness of the source and the square of the wavelength. Thus, to obtain an intense coherent illumination with X-rays (shorter wavelength) a high brightness is required.

The low brightness of the current Synchrotron Light Source UVX prevents today in Brazil, for example, beamlines with micro- and nanofocus and coherent diffraction imaging beamlines that are important for the development of the biotechnology and nanotechnology areas. This also prevents the community of academic and industrial users of the LNLS to perform highly complex experiments in areas such as archeology and paleontology, through medicine, biology and agriculture, or even in areas where the synchrotron is traditionally used such as physics, chemistry and materials science.

The new Synchrotron Light Source will not only be able to quantitatively improve the experiments that are already made today. Sirius and its Beamlines will enable primarily a qualitative change to the user research, allowing the execution of these experiments now impossible in the Country.

# NEW BEAMLINES

Sirius is one of the first fourth-generation Synchrotron Light Sources to be built in the world and will have the highest brightness among the light sources in the energy range that goes from soft x-rays to hard X-rays with energies up to 20 keV.

The choice and design of the first 13 Sirius beamlines were defined considering three general guidelines:
• Access to New Science: to make the most out of the high brightness of a fourth-generation Synchrotron Light Source to explore techniques such as coherent scattering, nanofocus and inelastic scattering spectroscopy;
• Improvement to Current Science: to provide access to enhanced versions of experimental techniques currently available through the high brightness and wide spectrum provided by the Source.
• Innovation in Strategic Areas: to provide high-tech tools to solve problems in strategic areas for the Country.

The project to build the first 13 beamlines intended for Sirius are in the technical development and prototyping phase. In late 2019, the first 5 beamlines will be delivered, and in the end of 2020, the remaining 8 beamlines will be made available to the users.

These thirteen beamlines will enable unprecedented studies to be made in Brazil, in practically all areas of knowledge, whether of academic or industrial interest.

# UNUSUAL NAMES

Sirius Beamlines are named after Brazilian Fauna, Flora and Cultural Elements.

Carnaúba

X-Ray Nanoscopy

Carnauba (Coherent X-rAy NAnoprobe BeAmline) is a beamline for multiple advanced techniques using X-ray absorption, scattering and emission, and combining coherent light with nano-focusing. It is the longest of Sirius beamlines, with 145 meters distance between the light source and the sample environment. This length is required to produce a high optical demagnification and attain a focus size of about 30 nm.

Carnauba (Copernicia prunifera) is an endemic tree of semiarid region of northeastern Brazil. (Foto: Otávio Nogueira)

Paineira

Powder Diffraction

Paineira is a beamline optimized for powder diffraction, single crystal diffraction and spectroscopy techniques and aimed at the structural characterization of polycrystalline materials. The powder diffraction technique is complementary to the micro and nanodiffraction technique of the Carnaúba beamline.

Paineira is the popular name for several species of the Ceiba genus. (Photo: José Carlos Garcia)

Quati

X-ray Spectroscopy with Temporal Resolution

Quati (QUick X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy for TIme-Resolved experiments) is a beamline dedicated to high quality X-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments, in XANES (X-Ray Absorption Near Edge Structure) and EXAFS (Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure) modes, allowing measurements in the time scale of milliseconds.

Quatis or Coatis are mammals of the Nasua genus, common in from South America to the south of North America. (Photo: Domínio Público)

Ema

X-ray Spectroscopy e Diffraction in Extreme Conditions

The EMA  (Extreme condition x-ray Methods of Analysis) beamline is thought to make a difference where a high brilliance (high flux of up to $latex 1 \times 10^{14}$ photons/sec with beamsize down to 0.1×0.1 $latex \mu \rm m^{2}$) is essential, which is the case for extreme pressures that require small focus and time-resolved that require high photon flux.

Ema, Rhea americana, é uma ave que não voa, nativa da América do Sul. (Foto: Nino Barbieri )

Jatobá

High Energy X-rays Tomography and Diffraction

Jatoba is a beamline that will cover the range of High Energy X-rays, which enable a large penetration of X-rays in all materials, reaching centimeters in materials such as of steel and millimeters in materials containing lead.

Jatoba is the popular name of the genus of trees Hymenaea L., common throughout Latin America and especially the Amazon rainforest. (Photo: Domínio Público)

Ingá

Inelastic X-ray Scattering

Inga is a beamline that would originally explore the characterization of materials by Inelastic X-ray Scattering (IXS), where there is a change of energy of the photons scattered in interactions with matter. Part of the original scientific program of the Ingá beamline was transferred to the EMA beamline. The design of this beamline is being re-evaluated.

Inga is a tree of the Inga genus with diversity center in the Amazon rainforest. (Photo: João Medeiros )

Mogno

X-ray Micro- and Nanotomograhy

The Mogno beamline will be dedicated to obtaining three-dimensional images of different materials, quickly, non-invasively, quantitatively and with high resolution.

Mogno is the popular name of the species Swietenia macrophylla found in South and Central America. ( Photo: Public Domain)

Cateretê

Coherent and Time-resolsed X-ray Scattering

Cateretê (Coherent And TimE REsolved scatTEring) is a beamline optimized to perform Coherent X-ray Diffraction Imaging (CXDI) and X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (XPCS). Among its applications are the investigation of the dynamics of biological phenomena and nanoscale structures in the areas of petroleum, catalysts and polymers, as well as in solving problems of the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

Cateretê, or Catira, is a brazilian rural dance. (Photo: Grupo de Dança Os Sarandeiros)

Sapucaia

Small Angle X-ray Scattering

The main technique of this beamline, the Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) in solution, is a complementary technique to the Protein Crystallography of the Manacá beamline and allows understanding basic biological mechanisms by determining complex structures of proteins, without crystallization of macromolecules.

Sapucaia is the popular name of the Lecythis pisonis species, common to the Amazon Forest and Atlantic Forest. (Photo: Fernando Cunha)

Ipê

High Resolution UV and Soft X-ray Spectroscopy

Ipê (Inelastic and Photo-Electron spectroscopy) is a beamline that will have two experimental stations that will allow complementary spectroscopy techniques, Ambient Pressure X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (AP-XPS) and Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering (RIXS).

Ipê is the common name of many species of trees of the Handroanthus genus. (Photo: Public Domain)

Sabiá

Soft X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy and Imaging

Sabia (Soft X-Ray ABsorption Spectroscopy and ImAging) is a beamline for soft X-rays using undulators with polarization control and a Planar Grating Monochromator. The main analysis possible in this beamline will be X-rays Photoemission and Absorption Spectroscopy. In particular, Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES) which is one of the most powerful experimental techniques to research the electronic structure of materials.

Sabiá (Mimosa caesalpinaefolia) is a tree found in the Northeast and North Regions of Brazil. It is also the name of a wide range of species of the Turdus genus, found all over the world. (Photo: Claudio Oliveira Lima )

Imbuia

Infrared Micro and Nanospectroscopy

Imbuia (Infrared Micro and Nanospectroscopy Beamline) is a beamline dedicated to experiments in micro and nano-infrared spectroscopy in the medium IR range. These experiments allow for compositional analysis of virtually any material and are essential for the research in new materials, with emphasis on biological and synthetic organic materials.

Imbuia is the common name of the Ocotea porosa species, typical of the Araucaria forests of the South Region of Brazil. (Photo: Domínio Público)

Manacá

Macromolecular Micro and Nanocrystallography

Manacá (MAcromolecular micro and NAnoCrystAllography ) will be the first macromolecular crystallography beamline of Sirius and will be optimized for micrometric and sub-micrometric focus. The project includes two experimental stations, also including beams with dimensions of 20×5, 10×5 and 5×5 micron, dedicated to the study of three-dimensional structures of macromolecules, particularly complex arrangements such as viruses, membrane proteins and protein complexes and ligands.

Manacá is the name given to trees of the Tibouchina genus of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. (Photo: Mauro Guanandi)